- Web Resources for Women Writers
- Under construction -- please be sure to visit
again.
Below you'll find web links for the authors and works we're
reading this semester, as well as recommendations for further
reading. Some sites are better than others; as always when using
the web, evaluate not only the quantity of the information presented,
but its quality (the source of that information or its sponsor,
date uploaded, etc.).
General Resources
On Women's History
On Fashion, Commerce, and Cultural Events
On Women's Literature
- A
Celebration of Women Writers exists, in its editor Mary Mark
Ockerbloom's words, to recognize "the contributions of women
writers throughout history." Here, you can search for women
authors by name, century, or country.
- Scribbling Women provides resources, background, and lesson plans for works by several American women authors, including Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Susan Glaspell.
On Literary Periods, Genres, and Styles
Literary Periods
- W.W. Norton's site of web resources for the Norton
Anthology of English Literature offers cultural and literary
context for the periods in which our authors lived:
- At the site for The Restoration and Eighteenth Century (1660-1785), "A Day in Eighteenth-Century London" provides a wonderful look at life in London, c.1660-1785, through writings, paintings, and engravings of the time. (Be sure to look at the excerpt from Eliza Haywood's The Female Specator (a response to Addison
and Steele's The Specator and the engraving of ladies
shopping for fabric.)
- At the site for The Romantic Period (1785-1830), "Tintern Abbey, Tourism, and Romantic Landscape" offers some context for the travels of Victor Frankenstein in Shelley's novel, as well as further information about her Romantic contemporaries whom she quotes in her novel.
- At the site for The Victorian Period (1830-1901), the page "Industrialism: Progress or Decline?" shows us another side to the Victorian way of life than our reading addresses, and addresses "The Woman Question." The "web links" page is also helpful, particularly a link to a site about The Plight
of Women's Work in the Early Industrial Revolution in England
and Wales (part of the Women
in World History web site).
- At the site for The Twentieth-Century and After , there are links to information about the Modernist Experiment and about Representing the Great War.
- The Women Romantic-Era Writers site offers a wealth of information for authors of this period, including pages on: Electronic Texts by Women Writers; Annuals, Anthologies and Gift Books; Contemporary Responses to Women Writers; Electronic Text Archives; Cultural and Visual Resources; and Related Web Sites.
- Alan Lui's Voice of the Shuttle page for English Literature offers links to resources for all periods of English literature.
- Jack Lynch's Literary
Resources -- Twentieth Century British and Irish provides
information on selected modern and contemporary authors.
- The
Imperial Archive, a "site dedicated to the study of
Literature, Imperialism, Postcolonialism" and authored by
students working on the MA degree in Modern Literary Studies
in the School of English at the Queen's University of Belfast.
- An Introduction
to Postcolonial Studies at the site for Postcolonial
Studies at Emory.
Literary Genres and Styles
Authors
Fleur Adcock
Margaret Atwood
Jane Austen
Pat Barker
- Biographies:
- Interviews:
- Reviews and critical essays:
- Information on Dr.W.H.R. Rivers:
- Links to historical background on the First World War:
- Explore the site for World War One at BBC Knowledge for links to a summary of the war years, Daily Mirror articles from the 1940s about the war, interviews with veterans, a 3-D virtual tour of a trench, and information about making of the UK feature-length television drama "All the King's Men" (1999).
- "The War Poets at Craiglockhart" (sponsored by Napier University, which resides on the former site of Craiglockhart Hospital) offers a history the site in the context of WWI and the poets who stayed there.
- The First World War Poetry Archive: an on-line archive with material on Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, other poets, and WWI which offers an incredibly deep resource for background material on Barker's novel, including digital facsimiles of all of Owen's war poetry, a selection of his letters and photographs, and his personal records. In addition, the archive has over 250 Photographs of the Western Front (1914-1918); 250 Modern Photographs of the Western Front; c.50 Video Clips from the 1916 films "The Battle of the Somme" and "The Battle of the Ancre: The Advance of the Tanks" (QuickTime and MPEG); 100 Audio Clips from interviews with veterans from the Great War (RealAudio);and c.30 Modern Video Clips of the Western Front. (Most of the photos were taken from the collections of the Imperial War Museum.)
- Information about The Hydra, the publication of Craiglockhart Hospital edited by Wilfred Owen during his stay at Craiglockhart, and about the grounds of Craiglockhart Hospital.
- Information about the VAD (Voluntary Aid Detachment).
Aphra Behn
Anne Bradstreet
- A brief biography of Anne Bradstreet, with links to other web resources.
- An overview of Bradstreet's work from the Poetry Foundation.
- Pattie Cowell provides a
critical overview of Bradstreet's work for Heath's Online
Instructor Guide.
Anne Bronte
Suzanne Collins
- Scholastic's website offers a brief biography of Collins.
- Suzanne Collins's own website.
- The Hob, a fan site, gathers information about Collins, The Hunger Games trilogy, and the film adaptation.
- Select book reviews
and commentaries
- John Green, "Scary New World" (New York Times, 7 Nov 2008)
- Gabrielle Zevin, "Constant Craving" (New York Times, 9 Oct 2009)
- Rebecca Stead, "Fresh Hell" (New Yorker, 14 June 2010)
- Lev Grossman, "Catching Fire: Suzanne Collins's Hit Young Adult Novels" (Time, 7 Sept 2009)
- Laura Miller, "The Making of a Blockbuster" (Salon, 18 March 2012)
- Stephen Burt, "Part Thoreau, Part Cinderella" (Slate, 22 March 2012)
- Laura Miller, "The New Girl Power" (Salon, 26 March 2012)
- Dodai Stewart, "Racist Hunger Games Fans are Very Disappointed" (Jezebel, 26 March 2012)
- Anna Holmes, "White Until Proven Black: Imagining Race in The Hunger Games" (New Yorker.com, 30 March 2012)
- Alison Flood, "Hunger Games Novels Join Most-Complained about Titles in US" (Guardian, 10 April 2012)
Wendy Cope
- The British Council's website on Contemporary Authors offers a brief biography of Cope.
- An author profile of Cope from the BBC pages.
- The Poetry Archive provides a brief overview of Cope's career with links to her reading some of her poems.
- An interview with Cope from the Guardian ("Happiness Writes Good Poems," 3 June 2001), on the occasion of a new collection of her poetry.
- Cope discusses the possessions with meaning in her life in the multi-media slide show "Wendy Cope: Pieces of Me" (Guardian, 6 Jul 2008).
Carol Ann Duffy
- The Knitting Circle offers a brief
overview of Duffy's life and career as well as links to critical
commentaries on her work.
Helen Fielding
- A overview of Fielding's work as of 2008 appears at the Guardian.
- Penguin USA has a reader's guide to Fielding's novel, which includes an interview with Fielding, a brief biography and more.
- Check out the differences between the US and UK dust-jackets for Bridget Jones's Diary and The Edge of Reason.
- The Bridget Archive provides links to interviews, reviews, and additional information.
- The transcript from an online chat with Fielding in 1998 with Time.com.
- "The Chick Lit Challenge" (March/April 2004, Utne) offers an overview of chick lit, a publishing trend which began with Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary.
- Review of Fielding's Bridget Jones Diary and Nick Hornby's About
a Boy.
- If you enjoyed Fielding, try Nick
Hornby or Roddy
Doyle.
Anne Finch
- A biography
of Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea.
Erica Jong
- The Erica Jong Web Site,
Erica Jong's own website, has a variety of information about
her work; the "Essay
about Erica Jong" By Shellie Fisher Fishkin (reprinted
from the American Writers; A Collection of Literary Biographies,
Supplement V, Charles Scribner's Sons, 2000) offers a good overview
of her career.
- "That
Suburban Matron, Erica Jong," from 4 August 1980 in
the New York Times, is an interview/review in which Jong
discusses her latest book -- Fanny: Being the True History
of the Adventures of Fanny Hackabout-Jones (1980) -- as well
as her marriage and her career. (Interesting cultural snapshot
of a strident feminist author c.1980!)
- The
online archives on Erica Jong at New York Times provides
links to reviews written by Jong and reviews of her books, including
a
review of Fear of Flying, her 1974 controversial best-seller.
- An essay by Erica Jong about Flaubert's Madame Bovary, "Fiction
Victim," is available at Salon.com.
L.M. Montgomery
Lady Mary Wortley Montagu
Gloria Naylor
Jean Rhys
Adrienne Rich
Christina Rossetti
- The Christina Rossetti page at the Victoria Web places Rossetti's life and her works in the context of the Victorian period.
- The Victoria Web also has a page dedicated to Rossetti's "Goblin Market," including the text of the poem alongside some of Dante Gabriel Rossetti's illustrations for his sister's work. You can also go directly to links for selected illustrations for "Goblin Market" by Rossetti and by Lawrence Houseman.
J.K. Rowling
Jeanette Winterson
- The British Council's Author Page on Winterson provides a biography. (Note: In the "Critical Perspective" section of this page, the author incorrectly identifies Henri of The Passion as a woman; critics usually read this character as male.)
- Be sure to visit Jeanette Winterson's own site for a wealth of information, including Winterson's monthly columns to her readers and links to her journalism.
- The Jeanette Winterson Reader's Site offers extensive information about Winterson and her work, as well as links to interviews, criticism, and other sites.
- Read an interview with Winterson about her recent novel, The.Powerbook, at Amazon.co.uk.
- For a discussion of the way Winterson's persona has been presented in the media, you might enjoy a paper I presented a few years ago: "With 'money and a room of her own': The Legacy of Woolf's Advice for the Woman Artist at Century's End."
- If you enjoyed Winterson, try Angela Carter, J. M. Coetzee, Julian Barnes, Graham Swift, or Arundhati Roy.
Mary Wollstonecraft
Virginia Woolf
- Biographical information on Woolf
- A biography of Woolf at the International Virginia Woolf Society.
- A detailed biography at The Modernism Lab.
- A biography of Woolf at Wikipedia.
- The Guardian's Author Page for Virginia Woolf, with a brief biography and overview of her work, along with links to Guardian articles about her work.
- A chronology of Woolf's life.
- Read The New York Times obituary for Woolf.
- "Leslie Stephen's Photograph Album" provides a collection of photographs from the album of Sir Leslie Stephen (1832-1904), Woolf's father. The album, held in the Mortimer Rare Book Room of the Library at Smith College, offers a visual documentary of Woolf's extended family and her early life. Of special note:
- View several portraits of Virginia Woolf:
- The famous (and most popular) portrait taken in 1902 by George Charles Beresford and housed at the National Portrait Gallery is available from their page of Woolf's portraits.
- A collection of other portraits by Man Ray and Giselle Freund.
- A time-line of photographs is available as a video.
- Hear Virginia Woolf's voice as part of a BBC series called "Words Fails Me."
- General resources and information on Woolf's work
- Read Woolf's essay on film, "The Movies and Reality," first published in The New Republic on 4 August 1926.
- Web resources on particular works:
- The Voyage Out:
- Author Michael Cunningham's essay at Salon magazine (adapted from his introduction to the Modern Library edition of The Voyage Out) provides a thoughtful discussion of this first novel and Woolf's career.
- "Thunder at Wembly":
- To the Lighthouse:
- The Waves:
- Three Guineas:
- Ellen Goodman's syndicated op-ed column, "Are women now insiders on the war?" (27 March 2003) looks at gender and the war with Iraq through the lens of Woolf's Three Guineas.
Authors who missed this version
of the syllabus...
A.S. Byatt
Angela Carter
Caryl Churchill
Margaret Drabble
Georgette Heyer
Penelope Fitzgerald
Doris Lessing
Toni Morrison
- Web resources: Anniina's
Toni Morrison Page has information about her books as well
as links to on-line biographies, bibliographies, and interviews.
For information about the Nobel Prize Morrison won in 1993 for
"novels characterized by visionary force and poetic import,
gives life to an essential aspect of American reality" and
the text of her Nobel Lecture, visit her Nobel
Prize Internet Archive Page.
- Recommended reading: Song of Solomon (1977) and Beloved
(1987).
Iris Murdoch
Arundhati Roy
- Web resources:
- Recommended reading: The God of Small Things (1997).
Mary Shelley
- The
Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Chronology and Resource Site
has a complete and detailed chronology of Mary Shelley's life
as well as a bibliography and selected links to other web resources.
Of special note: Sir Walter Scott's review
of Frankenstein (1818) in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine
(2 [20 March/1 April 1818]: 613-6) and the chronology of Mary
Shelley's life for 1797-1816
and for 1817-1824.
- View Henry Fuseli's painting "The
Nightmare" (1781) which may serve as a source for the
scene of Elizabeth Lavenza's death. An alternate
version of "The Nightmare" (1781-1782) exists as
well.
Muriel Spark
- Web resources:
- Recommended reading: The Girls of Slender Means, The
Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.
Alice Walker
- Anniina's
Alice Walker Page offers detailed information about Walker's
life and works, with links to bibliographies, book reviews, interviews,
and the works themselves.
- Recommended reading: Pulitzer prize-winning The Color
Purple (1982).
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Last updated 2012